Ruckus in Tripura assembly after Governor refuses customary speech

Agartala, Feb 17: The opening day of the month-long budget session of the Tripura assembly on Friday witnessed unprecedented noisy scenes after the Governor refused to read the entire text of the written speech, drafted by the Left Front ministry. The bedlam began when Governor Tathagata Roy told the members of the Tripura assembly that he would read only some portions of the 32-page budget speech. Protesting the Governor’s assertion, opposition Trimool Congress (TMC) MLAs backed by Congress legislators rushed to the speaker’s podium and shouted slogans calling the Governor “agent of RSS”, besides “go back governor”, “hai hai governor”. Undeterred, the governor read out five/six pages of the 32-page speech before leaving the house within half an hour. Later, TMC leader Sudip Roy Barman and Congress MLA Ratan Lal th separately told media persons that the Governor insulted the people of the state by not reading the full text of the customary speech. “Roy did not read the entire text of the speech as in the speech there is criticism of the BJP (Bharatiya Jata Party) -led government at the Centre,” Barman said. th said: “By announcing that he would not read the entire text of the speech, the Governor breached the customary practice of the assembly.” “The Governor has parroted the political line of the ruling CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) in his speech,” said th, former opposition leader (Congress) who recently held a meeting with the state BJP president Biplab Kumar Deb fuelling speculation about his joining the party.

He said: “We cannot really blame him as he is constitutiolly bound to read out the speech drafted and approved by the state cabinet. Governor has no freedom of choice in this regard.” (IANS)